Integrating Xamarin Apps with IBM MobileFirst Platform

August 19, 2016

The demand for ensuring successful mobile user experiences is so high that businesses are putting their hopes behind IBM MobileFirst’s latest SDK for Xamarin. This release brings together the mobile app industry’s bigwigs—Xamarin and IBM MobileFirst—for the first time. According to IBM, the new SDK will enable Xamarin developers to leverage the integration and development platform of IBM MobileFirst.

This coming together of the industry majors will be a boon for developers and businesses alike. Integration of app services will further bring down the costs incurred and offer immense cross-platform benefits. In fact, such a development was predicted by the industry pundits. Not long ago, Gartner published a revealing data that gave insight about the role and future of the app industry. According to Gartner, by 2017 mobile app downloads will surge to more than 268 billion and user data streams will reach more than 100 apps and services every day.

It is in this context that this partnership in creating waves in the industry. Xamarin is the one of the first of its kind mobile development platform for crafting cross-platform apps for iOS, Android, and Windows platforms. Establishments small and large have embraced Xamarin because of its seamless cross-platform benefits. Enterprises can use the IBM MobileFirst SDK for Xamarin to combine their cross-platform native Xamarin apps with the power of the MobileFirst platform. In other words, Xamarin-based developers can write their apps in C#, and seamlessly connect them to IBM MobileFirst’s data integration, notification, security, and analytics capabilities.

An advantage of Xamarin apps is that they have native look and feel. This is because Xamarin enables developers to build apps with native user interface controls, make use of its full functional access to the core platform, and enable hardware acceleration. On the other hand, MobileFirst’s centralized app management feature enable developers to manage multiple enterprise apps serving different purposes. MobileFirst’s secure and simplified integration too has come as a plus for Xamarin users. They can now integrate their apps with backend systems without any complexities and security issues.

As the growth in mobile apps opens up numerous opportunities for enterprises, it is important to leverage the app industry’s best partnership that ushers in interoperability. To know more about how you can leverage IBM MobileFirst SDK for Xamarin, get in touch with us.